Burglaries and house break-ins continue to rise in Mumbai’s eastern suburbs

The region has seen a rise in population, which will reflect in crime rates, say the police

The police registered 535 house break-in cases in the eastern region in 2017 against 526 in 2016. Similarly, thefts jumped to 1,067 in 2017 compared to 1,038 in the previous year.

Ghatkopar, Parksite and Pantnagar recorded 113, 118, 107 theft cases in 2017, while Shivaji Nagar, Mulund and Ghatkopar saw most burglaries. The region was home to 162 robberies in 2017. Ghatkopar (741) topped the list of overall crimes in the eastern region in 2017.

Vyankat Patil, inspector of Ghatkopar police station, said before looking the crime data, one should consider the changing demographics.

“The floating crowd in Ghatkopar has increased by up to five lakh in the past few years. After the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro became operational, a sizeable number of commuters moved from Dadar to Ghatkopar. Crime will increase with a rise in population,” Patil said.

On the other hand, detection and recovery rates improved in 2017. Detection rate went up to 68% 2017 from 65% in 2016, while recovery rate to 28% in 2017 to 19% in 2016, said Lakhmi Gautam, additional commissioner of the eastern region.